Kim's battling to save Silverstone

THE woman who could be the saviour of the British Grand Prix first fostered her love of cars in a Mini on the streets of Woodley.

Businesswoman Kim Cockburn is heading a £200 million consortium with the likes of former world champion Nigel Mansell to renovate the threatened Grand Prix's Silverstone home and to promote the event for the next seven years.

But the glamour of Formula 1 is a far cry from the 46-year-old former Beechwood Primary and Bulmershe schoolgirl's first taste of motoring.

"My mum bought me a Mini Cooper when I was 17," she told the Evening Post.

"It was quite an old one - a 1966 model. It was red and black and I loved it. I called it Betsy."

As a teenager, Mrs Cockburn didn't have the cash to service the car - so she learned to do it herself.

She lived with her family in Crockhamwell Road and her first jobs were with Foster Wheeler and ICL.

But she found her true vocation working for British Champion Bobb Gravett's touring car team and later as a motor racing journalist.

It was in these jobs that she built up the contacts to build the consortium Brand Synergy Limited, which hit the headlines last week when it stepped in to save Silverstone and keep the British Grand Prix on next year's sporting calendar.

It was under threat because Silverstone's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), could not meet Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's asking price for staging the event next year.

Ecclestone own the commercial rights for Formula 1 and all racetracks that want to put on a Grand Prix must pay him for the rights.

But Brand Synergy Limited has put its £200 million proposal to the BRDC to redevelop the track with a Grand Prix themed fun factory, casino and leisure complex.

Ecclestone is said to approve of the deal although the BRDC has asked for time to consider it.

If they agree by tomorrow (12), Ecclestone has said he will put the British Grand Prix on his schedule for 2005.

And Mrs Cockburn believes the consortium can see the chequered flag.

"We have achieved our aim, which was to save the British Grand Prix. We are now assured that it will run next year at Silverstone and that is fantastic," she said.

"Bernie Ecclestone has told me that he is committed to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone."

The consortium hopes to gain planning permission for the project by December next year.

She said: "Much of the course will be kept as it is but Nigel Mansell will be drawing a new design for parts of it."

Mrs Cockburn, whose maiden name was Neech, has four children and put her career in the world of motor racing on hold when her eldest son Keith, now 23, was born.

She concentrated on her other interests in property while her children Jonathon, 22, by her first marriage and Richard, eight and Lucy, six, by her second marriage, were growing.

She said: "Motor racing had to be more of a hobby at that time, but it stayed my passion and I always knew that I would come back to it."

Her sister Kaye Neech, who works as duty manager at the Riverside Bar in Caversham Road, was expecting to see her sister in Reading this weekend visiting from her home in Ringwood in Hampshire.

She said: "She was coming over, but with all this press and television attention she wasn't able to make it."She lived with her family in Crockhamwell Road and her first jobs were with Foster Wheeler and ICL.

But she found her true vocation working for British champion Bobb Gravett's touring car team and later as a motor racing journalist.

It was in these jobs that she built up the contacts to build the consortium Brand Synergy Limited, which hit the headlines last week when it stepped in to save Silverstone and keep the British Grand Prix on next year's sporting calendar.

It was under threat because Silverstone's owner, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), could not meet Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's asking price for staging the event next year.

Ecclestone owns the commercial rights for Formula 1 and all racetracks that want to put on a Grand Prix must pay him. But Brand Synergy Limited has put its £200

million proposal to the BRDC to redevelop the track with a Grand Prix themed fun factory, casino and leisure complex.

Ecclestone is said to approve of the deal though the BRDC has asked for time to consider it. If they agree by tomorrow, Ecclestone has said he will put the British Grand Prix on his schedule for 2005.

And Mrs Cockburn believes the consortium can see the chequered flag. "We have achieved our aim, which was to save the British Grand Prix. We are now assured that it will run next year at Silverstone and that is fantastic," she said.

"Bernie Ecclestone has told me that he is committed to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone."

The consortium hopes to gain planning permission for the project by December next year.

She said: "Much of the course will be kept as it is but Nigel Mansell will be drawing a new design for parts of it."

Mrs Cockburn, whose maiden name was Neech, has four children and put her career in the world of motor racing on hold when her eldest son Keith, now 23, was born.

She concentrated on her other interests in property while her children Jonathon, 22, by her first marriage and Richard, eight and Lucy, six, by her second marriage, were growing up.

She said: "Motor racing had to be a hobby at that time, but it stayed my passion and I knew that I would come back to it."

Her sister Kaye Neech, duty manager at the Riverside Restaurant in Caversham Road, was expecting to see her sister in Reading this weekend visiting from her home in Ringwood, Hampshire.

She said: "She was coming over, but with all this press and TV attention she wasn't able to make it."